The Bambu Lab H2S is Coming, and It Doesn’t Take a Genius to Figure Out What It Is
An e-mail and homepage teaser from Bambu Lab tells us that “Something big is about to drop” on August 26.
Editor's note: Well, the big reveal is here. You can read all about the Bambu Lab H2S over in our dedicated launch story.
And that something big is the H2S, according to the company itself. As best we can recall, this is the first time that Bambu Lab has directly acknowledged the name of a new device before the official release.
It might be a tacit nod to the fact that the June leak was probably legit, and that it’s no secret that Bambu Lab’s next machine is likely a counterpart to the March-released H2D.
If the teaser image – which shows an build area and a printhead that matches the leak – is anything to go by, then we can expect the H2S to be “simply” the single-nozzle version of this second-generation machine. Interpreting the naming convention certainly backs this up: “H” for this run of larger machines, “2” for the second generation, and “D” for the dual-extrusion model. A single-nozzle variant, logically, would be the H2S.
Let’s indulge that thought a little and explore what such a system would really mean.
The teaser image (header image, above) shows us the same build plate as we’re accustomed to on the H2D, with the air-filter stack at the rear of the chamber. Likewise, the printhead itself shows the toolhead camera module, hinting that we could reasonably expect the same level of extrusion quality control monitoring as present on the H2D.
Extrapolating further, if the H2S shares the H2D’s platform, it would likely be compatible with Bambu Lab’s new tools, such as the blade cutter and pen plotter.
There’s no suggestion of a laser version from the teasers, which is probably deliberate. I think the complexity of the H2D confused some folks and distracted from what the machine actually offered. If laser is a native component of the H2S too, that of course will come by way of a pricier “Laser Combo” version. We’d likely also encounter the same questions of upgradeability. The non-laser H2D is upgradable to use the lasers modules too through an upgrade kit. Material differences between the H2D Laser variant and the base H2D include the inclusion of laser safety features, including the birds-eye camera, tinted windows, and integrated air pump and tube and we’d expect that to be the case with the H2S if it has a laser compatibility too.
We have no numbers yet but, again, assuming it to be a simple single-nozzle version of the H2D, would expect the print head to be able to make full use of the 350 x 320 mm build area when printing, compared to the H2D which trims a little off the sides depending on which nozzle is used. The image that leaked in June appears to show 340 mm for the Z-axis, which if true would mean a taller total volume than the H2D, making the H2S, even though it’s likely the same basic hardware as the H2D, Bambu Lab’s largest volume machine yet.
Prior to the launch of the H2D, it was widely requested that whatever Bambu Lab did next was a large-volume printer. The H2D did offer that in a way. But between price hikes and limited availability due to unpredictability from tariffs, not to mention the added complexity of the offering and the standard printer being the last of the three SKUs available, the H2D’s launch could be generously considered a bit messy. The H2S could be a do-over.
So, all aboard the hype train for the launch tomorrow, or has that train already left the station? Let us know in the comments.
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